Challenges galore for new govt in new year

The repatriation of Rohingyas, improvement of chaotic banking sector, ease of doing business, are among the major challenges for the new government, to be formed following Sunday’s general election, in the new year.
Regression of the banking sector continued although a scam-hit private bank was given bailout fund while there was no major improvement in easing of doing business against falling competiveness of Bangladesh products in the international market in 2018.
The abysmal state of the banking sector and obstacles to accelerate businesses, however, mostly went out of focus because of the eventful general election on December 30, 2018 marred by widespread vote rigging and intimidation and collapse of the capital city due to students’ protests for road safety in August.
Economists said that the new government would face challenges of bringing improvement in the banking sector amid high growth of defaulted loan and also competiveness of the exporters and repatriation of nearly one million Rohingyas to Myanmar in the new year.
Former caretaker government adviser Mirza Azizul Islam noted that ease of doing business was always important for keeping the economic growth.
There were hardly any signs of improvement because of static private investment in the past one decade with no difference in 2018, he told New Age on Saturday.
Although the country moved three notches up to the 136th place among 189 countries in Global Human Development Index in 2017 of the United Nations Development, World Economic Forum in its Global Competitiveness Index ranked Bangladesh 103th, down from 102nd in 2017, among 140 countries in 2018.
According to World Bank report, Doing Business 2019 released on November 1,2018, Bangladesh was ranked 176th among 190 countries for ease of doing business, up from 177th in the previous year, but still lowest in South Asia with India 77th, Bhutan 81st, Sri Lanka 100th, Nepal 110th, Pakistan 136th, Maldives 139th and Afghanistan 167th. 
The economist noted that 2018 began on wrong foot as severe cash crunch sent Farmers Bank, established by former state-minister and ruling Awami League leader Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, almost bankrupt.
By May 2018, scam-hit Farmers Bank was given Tk 715 crore bailout fund — Tk 160 crore each by Sonali, Agrani, Janata and Rupali banks and rest Tk 45 crore by state-owned Investment Corporation of Bangladesh — despite criticisms.
On December 7, 2018, Centre for Policy Dialogue in a report revealed that Tk 22,502 crore was plundered from Bangladesh’s banking sector through major scams, irregularities and heists in the past one decade.
It also revealed that the banking sector’s non-performing loans reached nearly Tk 1 lakh crore at the end of September, which was 11.45 per cent of the outstanding loans and 48.38 per cent of the amount belonged to six state-owned banks.
Former adviser to caretaker government Wahiduddin Mahmud noted that the banking sector regressed in terms of formulation of rules and regulations and compliance in recent years. 
He also noted that banking sector should not be used to patronise politics for giving political and immoral financial benefits to others.
Many economists found links of growing capital flights from the country with lacklustre private sector investment and plundering of money from the banking sector after a United States-based research firm ranked Bangladesh the fastest growing country with an increasing number of ultra rich in the world.
According to the World Ultra Wealth Report 2018, released by WEALTH-X on September 5, 2018, the ultra high net worth population in Bangladesh was growing at the rate of 17.3 per cent over five years in 2012-2017. 
Dhaka University economics teacher Selim Raihan, also the South Asian Network on Economic Modelling executive director, said that the Wealth-X disclosures showed what was happening in Bangladesh actually.
Only few people including those linked with the ruling party politics are benefitted from over 6 per cent GDP growth over the past decade, he said.
According to a report of the Straits Time on August 9, 2018, Over 40,000 applications from 130 countries for Malaysia My Second Home programme had been approved since 2002.
Myanmar tourism and culture ministry secretary general Datuk Rashidi Hasbullah said that of the total, applicants from China contributed the highest number 11,820, followed by Japan 4,618 and Bangladesh 4,018.
Thousands of school students staged protests from 29 July to 8 August for road safety flowing the killing of two teenagers by a speeding bus caught the awe of the citizens and received solidarity from various international organisations.
The protests, unearthing irregularities and violation of traffic rules even by ministers and bureaucrats, ended after the government promised to address the demands raised by the students.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net